Negotiating with Iran: Istanbul and Its Aftermath

Summary: Nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group are scheduled for April 13 and 14 in Istanbul. Is it possible for the United States to successfully engage Iran, or are negotiations with Tehran an exercise in futility?

Nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group, the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, took place April 13 and 14 in Istanbul. Is it possible for the United States to successfully engage Iran, or are negotiations with Tehran an exercise in futility? Two former senior Obama administration officials and noted Iran experts—Vali Nasr, newly named dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations—probed this question. George Perkovich, director of Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, described feasible criteria for nuclear arrangements between Iran and the international community. Carnegie’s Karim Sadjadpour moderated.

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About the Middle East Program

The Carnegie Middle East Program combines in-depth local knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to examine economic, sociopolitical, and strategic interests in the Arab world. Through detailed country studies and the exploration of key crosscutting themes, the Carnegie Middle East Program, in coordination with the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, provides analysis and recommendations in both English and Arabic that are deeply informed by knowledge and views from the region. The program has special expertise in political reform and Islamist participation in pluralistic politics.